Author Archive: Carran Waterfield
Carran’s Working Diary 10: The House That Jack Built
When I booked the African Drummer through the Commonwealth Institute for my drama classes in 1987, it didn’t cost anything. It was paid for by the common wealth. When I booked the Belgrade Theatre-In-Education company for my drama classes in 1988, it didn’t cost anything. It was paid for […]
Carran’ s Working Diary 9: The Chair of the Board
Practice Day 6: I have been thinking about despair. I have been thinking about having nothing. I have been thinking about a chair. I have been reading about work in the nineteenth century from Roy Palmer’s Poverty Knock collection of songs Improvisation with a chair Practice Day 7 I […]
Carran’s Working Diary 8: Living with Common People
I have just read Common People by Alison Light. This revelation renders the seemingly pointless research traipsing through family history worthwhile. Alison is an independent scholar with no official support from a university and she did her research “on the hop”. It took her 8 years. I didn’t know about […]
Carran’s Working Diary 7: Lines, Tributaries and Transformations
Back to the Working House after the diagonal journey from North West to South East. I am back in the Working House for one day to reflect on and improvise around a recent journey to East Anglia and Essex passing through Gressenhall Workhouse, Norfolk, Lexden and Winstree Union Workhouse, Stanway, […]
Carran’s Working Diary 6: Discharged
On my last day in the Working House my informant Jenny Hughes visited me. I showed her the results of my labour and she was quite satisfied, thus releasing me for my onward journey. I was discharged from the Working House after four days making the return journey with case […]
Carran’s working diary 5: Day 3 in the Working House
I am the door: by me if any man enter in , he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:9) Today the door was locked. After trying the back way which was also locked I heard the voice of a distraught cover porter […]
Carran’s working diary 4: Nana in hospital
One reason for being involved in Jenny’s project is autobiographical. My Nana-in-hospital (that’s what we called her as children) was sent to Tattingstone Workhouse (Samford Union) that became St Mary’s Hospital, to give birth to my mum. Mum must have stayed with her until she was about 2 years old […]
Carran’s working diary 3: From my notebook
The Fortress. The Threshold. The Dark. The Hymn. Writing in a bed due south. Dark night of the soul. Marching. “a turbulent mixture of old peoples’ home, maternity, mental and general hospital, children’s home, school and shelter for the homeless” (Down Poorhouse Lane) Asking for more Twist’s sin. “This is […]
Carran’s working diary 2: Day 2 (but really day 17)
Workhouses, and their subsequent guise as hospitals, kept meticulous records in gorgeous tatty bound ledgers. I have seen two at Touchstones, the Local History Centre in Rochdale and one in the Suffolk Records Office in Ipswich bearing my mum’s birth record and Nana-in-Hospital’s date of admission to Tattingstone Workhouse. Tattingstone […]
Carran’s working diary 1: Genesis of The House (working title)
I am on the threshold of this new piece of work and it’s the first day at my working house which for this week is the John Thaw Studio at Manchester University. Since February this year when Jenny and I had our first meeting for the Poor Theatres Project I […]